Piano to Please the Ears

EAST PEORIA — Tonight a world-famous pianist filled the Illinois Central College Performing Arts Center with the classic sounds of 20th-century American composer George Gershwin.

Thomas Pandolfi was the man behind the keys. Like Gershwin, Pandolfi is a young American with a passion for the piano. Playing the piano since the age of four, Pandolfi has traveled the world over the last six years performing in a places like China, Germany and England.

Pandolfi performed at the PAC twice today — with a one-hour matinee at 2:30 p.m. and a longer performance at 7:30 p.m. These performances were filled with Gershwin classics, but Pandolfi also took creative license to create his own versions of several of Gershwin’s pieces.

Check below to listen to the first two minutes of Pandolfi’s 16-minute performance of Gershwin’s 1927 piano solo version of Rhapsody in Blue.